Fishing rod attachment



June 26, 1934. E. L. BOWMAN FISHING ROD ATTACHMENT Filed Jan. 12, 1932 F L L T L T T L JTT. IHW.I 1: W Q fi x. Q A m m HEEEEQFEE Patented June 26, 1934 .UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FISHING ROD ATTACHMENT Earle L. Bowman, Attleboro, Mass., assignor of 1(ale-half to John H. Spettigue, Attleboro,

ass.

Application January 12, 1932, Serial No. 586,129 2 Claims. (Cl. 33-107) This invention relates to an attachment for a a fisherman shall not take fish under a certain fishing rod, and has for one of its objects to prolength and that should a fish of shorter than the vide a device which may be assembled with any minimum th be caught it shall be thrown fishing rod now in use. back into the water. This has necessitated the Another object of this invention is the procarrying of some measuring device by the fishergo vision of an attachment having indicating markman that he may measure fish the length of ings thereon, which will be protected against obwhich he cannot determine by estimate. Pocket literation or wear. scales have been resorted to but these require Another object of the invention is the provision the use of one hand to hold the same and when of a device which will permit an ornamental finan active fish is jumping around at the end of 55 ish provided on the rod to be observed therethe line, it is rather awkward for the fisherman through and add to or enhance such ornate apto hold a scale or the like for measuring purposes. pearance. Also, at times scales have been mounted on parts Another object of the invention is the provision of fishing rods but this requires a specially conof an elastically resilient tube which is split structed fishing rod and some manipulation of 7 throughout its length so that it may be snapped operating the same, and in order to avoid these over a fishing rod to remain assembled therewith undesirable conditions I have provided a tube or changed from one rod to another as desired. of resilient transp material Such 8- Ce ulo d Another object of the invention is the proand provided markings on the inner' surface vision of a construction which may be attached thereof, the tube being sufiiciently light so as 75 to the rod between the joints and such that it will not to affect the balance of the rod, and the not interfere with the detachment of the rod secsili cy be n such t t e s is d fi m y tions one from the other. in place with the indications protected by being A further object of the invention is the prolocated on the inner surface of the tube; and

vision of a construction which may remain asthe following is a detailed description of the pres- 8o sembled with a particular section, even though ent embodiment of this invention illustrating the the sections are taken apart for storage or transpreferred means by which these advantageous portation, as desired. results may be accomplished.

A still further object of the invention is the With reference to the drawing, 10 designates provision of a construction which will be light generally a fishing rod having a handle 11 and a in weight and when attached to the rod will not provided along its length with guides 12 for the affect the balance of the rod when in use. fish line. These guides 06011 adj e e j ints With these and other objects in view, the inand frequently at a point intermediate the joints. vention consists of certain'novel features of con- The attachment which I have provided consists struction, as will be more fully described, and of a celluloid tube designated generally 13 which particularly pointed out in the appended claims. is split as at 14 longitudinally throughout its In the accompanying drawing: length. The inner diameter of this tube is of a, Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a fragmental porsize normally smaller than the diameter of the tion of a fishing rod showing my improved atrod 10 on which it is to be attached so that when 40 tachment as mounted in position. the edges 15 and 16 of this tube are spread apart Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the structure by forcing the same over the rod 10 as illusshown in Fig. 1. V trated in Fig. 4, it will tightly grip the rod and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the tubular athold the tube firmly in position. tachment looking at the underside thereof and The top or body portion 17 of the tube is proshowing the separable edges extending longituvided with indicia 18 by recessing the inner sur- 10o dinally throughout its length. face 19 of the tube as at 20 in the shape of the Fig. 4 is a fragmental view of a portion of the characters desired, such as the numeral 6 desigattachment and a portion of the rod showing the nated at 21 and the marks indicating in h manner of assembling the two. running circumferentially about the inner sur- Fig. 5 is a section on line 55 of Fig. 1. face of the tube as indicated at 22, and in these Fig. 6 is a section on line 6-6 of Fig. 1 with recesses I provide some pigment or color which the rod omitted. will distinguish these markings from the color Fig. 'I is a view similar to Fig. 6 showing a of the resilient transparent material of which modified form of construction. the tube is formed so that these indicia may be The game laws in many States provide that observed through the transparent tubular attach- 1 ment. By this construction, when the tube is assembled on the red, the indicia are protected by the outer surface of the tube against wear or being obliterated and thus always remain bright and readily observable through the obverse face of the tube.

It is frequent that the game laws provide that the minimum length of the fish caught will be six inches and accordingly I have not placed indicia on the body portion of the tube up to the minimum length, but have rather provided, by the manner of recessing above described, an arrow designated 23 extending from the end to the six inch mark on the tube which will be the first mark thereon and which is designated 6. Additional lengths of course may be determined from the inch designations 7, 8, 9, etc., with the half and quarter markings designated between these inch markings, the same being of diiferent lengths as is usual in markings of this character. It is of course understood that any type of indicia may be used, whether it be inches, or other convenient designations.

For easy assembly I have cut away or inclined the edges 15 and 16 as at 24 and 25 so that in attachment to the rod this end may be forced over the rod by the application of pressure on the tube to force the necessary spreading of these edges 15 and 16 to receive the rod therethrough. This quick attachment is of particular assistance where the device is to be interchanged from one rod to another when desired. In some instances I may provide two layers of celluloid, designated 26 and 27, with the recesses and pigment therein in one of the contiguous surfaces to be between them and protected from wear by both inner and outer surfaces.

As I use a transparent material the finish of the rod may be observed through this attachment which by reason of the sheen on the smooth surface of the attachment, when made of celluloid orthe like, will enhance the appearance of the rod to cause the same to be more ornate and will, at the same time, protect this finish against wear.

The length of each attachment is such that it will fit in between the joints of the rod and thus may remain upon the section upon which it is positioned after the sections are detached and will in no way interfere with detachment or manual manipulation of the rod.

The foregoing description is directed solely towards the construction illustrated, but I desire it to be understood that I reserve the privilege of resorting to all the mechanical changes to which the device is susceptible, the invention being defined and limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A scale attachment for a fishing rod comprising a tube of elastically resilient transparent material split longitudinally throughout its length, the inner surface of said tube carrying directly measuring indicia along the length of said tube, and the edges of the split being adapted to be spread apart for application to the rod.

2. A scale attachment for a fishing rod comprising a tube of elastically resilient transparent material split longitudinallythroughout its length, the inner surface of said tube being provided with recesses shaped as measuring indicia, material of a distinguishing color in said recesses to be observed through said transparent material and protected from wear by the outer surface of said material, the edges of the split along said tube being shaped at one end to flare outwardly to provide a ready entrance for the rod.

'EARLE L. BOWMAN. 

